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THE EYES OF ASIA 



Books by Rudyard Kipling 


Actions and Reactions 


Life's Handicap: Being 


Brushwood Boy, The 


Stories of Mine Own 


Captains Courageous 


People 


Collected Verse 


Light That Failed, The 


Day's Work, The 


Many Inventions 


Departmental Ditties and 


Naulahka, The (With Wol- 


Ballads and Barrack- 


cott Balestier) 


Room Ballads 


Plain Tales from the Hills 


Diversity of Creatures, A 


Puck of Pook's Hill 


Eyes of Asia, The 


Rewards and Fairies * 


Five Nations, The 


Sea Warfare 


France at War 


Seven Seas, The 


From Sea to Sea 


Soldier Stories 


History of England, A 


Soldiers Three, The Story 


Jungle Book, The 


of the Gadsbys, and In 


Jungle Book, Second 


Black and White 


Just So Song Book 


Song of the English, A 


Just So Stories 


Songs From Books 


Kim 


Stalky & Co. 


Kipling Stories and Poems 


They 


Every Child Should 


Traffics and Discoveries 


Know 


Under the Deodars, The 


Kipling Birthday Book, 


Phantom 'Rickshaw, and 


The 


r Wee Willie Winkie 




With the Night Mail 



THE 
EYES OF ASIA 




Garden City New York 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1918 






v 



Copyright, 191 7, 191 8, by 
RUDYARD KIPLING 



OCT 28 !9ib 
©CLA506339 



9AGB 



CONTENTS 

A Retired Gentleman .... i 

The Fumes of the Heart ... 23 

The Private Account . 47 

A Trooper of Horse .... 75 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

From Bishen Singh Saktawut, Subedar 
Major, 215th Indurgurh [Todd's] Rajputs, 
now at Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, this 
letter is sent to Madhu Singh, Sawant, 
Risaldar Major [retired] 146th [Dublana] 
Horse, on his fief which he holds under the 
Thakore Sahib of Pech at Bukani by the 
River, near Chiturkaira, Kotah, Rajputana, 
written in the fifth month of the year 1916, 
English count 

llAViNG experienced five months of this 
war, I became infected with fever and a 
strong coldness of the stomach [rupture]. 
The doctor ordered me out of it altogether. 
They have also cut me with knives for a 

[3] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

wound on my leg. It is now healed but the 
strength is gone, and it is very frightened 
of the ground. I have been in many 
hospitals for a long time. At this present 
I am living in a hospital for Indian troops 
in a forest-reservation called "New," which 
was established by a King's order in ages 
past. There is no order for my return to 
India. I do not desire it. My Regiment 
has now gone out of France — to Egypt, or 
Africa. My officer Sahibs are for the most 
part dead or in hospitals. During a railway 
journey when two people sit side by side 
for two hours one feels the absence of the 
other when he alights. How great then 
was my anguish at being severed from my 
Regiment after thirty-three years! Now, 
however, I am finished. If I return to 
India I cannot drill the new men between 
my two crutches. I should subsist in my 
village on my wound-pension among old 
and young who have never seen war. Here 

[4l 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

I have great consideration. Though I am 
useless they are patient with me. 

Having knowledge of the English tongue, 
I am sometimes invited to interpret be- 
tween those in the hospital for the Indian 
troops and visitors of high position. I 
advance eminent visitors, such as relatives 
of Kings and Princes into the presence of 
the Colonel Doctor Sahib. I enjoy a small 
room apart from the hospital wards. I 
have a servant. The Colonel Doctor Sahib 
examines my body at certain times. I am 
forbidden to stoop even for my crutches. 
They are instantly restored to me by 
orderlies and my friends among the Eng- 
lish. I come and go at my pleasure where 
I will, and my presence is solicited by the 
honourable. 

You say I made a mistake to join the 
war at the end of my service? I have 
endured five months of it. Come you out 
and endure two and a half. You are three 

[51 



i THE EYES OF ASIA 

years younger than I. Why do you sit 
at home and drill new men? Remember: 

The Brahman who steals, 
The widow who wears ornaments, 
The Rajput who avoids the battle, 
Are only fit for crows' meat. 

You write me that this is a war for young 
men? The old are not entirely useless. 
The Badshah [the King] himself gave me 
the medal for fetching in my captain from 
out of the wires upon my back. That work 
caused me the coldness in my stomach. 
Old men should not do coolie-work. Your 
cavalry were useless in France. Infantry 
can fight in this war — not cavalry. It is 
as impossible for us to get out of our 
trenches and exterminate the enemy as it 
is for the enemy to attack us. Doubtless 
the cavalry brigades will show what they 
are made of in Egypt or Persia. This 

16] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

business in France is all Artillery work and 
mines. The blowing up of the Chitoree 
Bastion when Arjoon went to Heaven wav- 
ing his sword, as the song says, would not 
be noticed in the noise of this war. 

The nature of the enemy is to go to earth 
and flood us with artillery of large weight. 
When we were in the trenches it was a 
burden. When we rested in the villages 
we found great ease. As to our food, it 
was like a bunnia's marriage-feast. Every- 
thing given, nothing counted. Some of us 
— especially among your cavalry — grew so 
fat that they were compelled to wrestle 
to keep thin. This is because there was no 
marching. 

The nature of the enemy is to commit 
shame upon women and children, and to 
defile the shrines of his own faith with his 
own dung. It is done by him as a drill. We 
believed till then they were some sort of 
caste apart from the rest. We did not 

m 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

know they were outcaste. Now it is estab- 
lished by the evidence of our senses. They 
attack on all fours running like apes. 
They are specially careful for their faces. 
When death is certain to them they offer gifts 
and repeat the number of their children. 
They are very good single shots from cover. 

It is the nature of the enemy to shower 
seductions from out of their air-machines 
on our troops in the lines. They promised 
such as would desert that they would become 
Rajahs among them. Some of the men went 
over to see if this were true. No report 
came back. In this way we cleaned out 
five , bad characters from our Company 
exactly as it used to be in the little wars on 
the Border. May the enemy be pleased 
with them! No man of any caste dis- 
graced our Regiment. 

The nature of the enemy in this war is 
like the Nat [juggler] who is compelled 
to climb a pole for his belly's sake. If he 

[8] 



. 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

does not climb he starves. If he stops he 
Tails down. This is my thought con- 
cerning the enemy. 

Now that our troops have gone out of 
France, the war is entirely between the 
enemy and the English, etc., etc. Both 
sides accordingly increased the number 
and the size of their guns. The new 
wounded officers in the English hospital 
say that the battles of even yesterday are 
not to be compared with the battle of to- 
day. Tell this to those who have returned 
and who boast. Only fools will desire 
more war when this war is ended. Their 
reward will be an instant extinction on 
account of the innumerable quantity of 
arms, munitions, etc., etc., which will be 
left in the hands of the experts. Those 
who make war henceforward will be as 
small jackals fighting beneath the feet of 
elephants. This Government has abun- 
dance of material, and fresh strength is 

[9] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

added every hour. Let there be no mis- 
take. The foolish have been greatly de- 
ceived in these matters by the nature of the 
English which is in the highest degree de- 
ceptive. Everything is done and spoken 
upside-down in this country of the English. 
He who has a thousand says: "It is but 
a scant hundred." The possessor of palaces 
says: "It is a hut," and the rest in pro- 
portion. Their boast is not to boast. 
Their greatness is to make themselves very 
small. They draw a curtain in front of all 
they do. It is as difficult to look upon the 
naked face of their achievements as in our 
country upon the faces of women. 

It is not true there is no caste in England. 
The mark of the high castes, such as Ul or 
Baharun [Earl or Baron] is that they can 
perform any office, such as handling the 
dead, wounds, blood, etc., without loss of 
caste. The Maharanee of the Nurses in 
the English Hospital which is near our 

[10] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

Hospital is by caste Baharanee [Baroness]. 
I resort thither daily for society and en- 
lightenment on the habits of this people. 
The high castes are forbidden to show 
curiosity, appetite, or fear in public places. 
In this respect they resemble troops on 
parade. Their male children are beaten 
from their ninth year to their seventeenth 
year, by men with sticks. Their women 
are counted equal with their men. It is 
reckoned as disgraceful for a Baharanee 
to show fear when lights are extinguished 
in the hospital on account of bomb-dropping 
air-ships, as for an Ul to avoid battle. 
They do not blacken each other's faces by 
loud abuse, but by jests spoken in a small 
voice. 

The nature of the young men of high 
caste is as the nature of us Rajputs. They 
do not use opium, but they delight in horses, 
and sport and women, and are perpetually 
in debt to the moneylender. They shoot 

In] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

partridge and they are forced to ride foxes 
because there are no wild pig here. They 
know nothing of hawking or quail-fighting, 
but they gamble up to the hilt on all occa- 
sions and bear losses laughing. Their card- 
play is called Baraich [Bridge?]. They be- 
little their own and the achievements of 
their friends, so long as that friend faces 
them. In his absence they extol his deeds. 
They are of cheerful countenance. When 
they jest, they respect honour. It is so also 
with their women. The Nurses in the Hospi- 
tal of my Baharanee where I resort for soci- 
ety jest with me as daughters with a father. 
They say that they will be stricken with 
grief if I return to India. They call me 
Dada which is father also in their tongue. 
Though I am utterly useless they are un- 
wearied of me. They themselves hasten 
to restore me my crutches when I let them 
fall. None of these women lament their 
dead openly. The eldest son of my Bahar- 

[12] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

anee at the English Hospital where I am 
made welcome, was slain in battle. The 
next morning after the news my Bahar- 
anee let loose the plate-pianos [turned on 
the gramophones] for the delectation of 
the wounded. It comes into my mind to 
suggest to you that our women are unable 
to stand by themselves. 

When the Badshah commanded me to his 
Palace to receive the medal, I saw all the won- 
ders and entertainments of the city of Lon- 
don. There was neither trouble nor expense. 
My Baharanee gave orders I should inhabit 
her own house in that city. It was in reality 
a palace filled with carpets, gilt furniture, 
marbles, mirrors, silks, velvets, carvings, 
etc., etc. Hot water ran in silver pipes 
.to my very bedside. The perfumed baths 
were perpetually renewed. When it rained 
daily I walked in a glass pavilion filled with 
scented flowers. I inhabited here ten days. 
Though I was utterly useless they were un- 

[13] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

wearied of me. A companion was found 
me. He was a Risaldar of Dekkani Horse, 
a man of family, wounded in the arms. 
We two received our medals together. 
We saw the King's Palace, and the custom 
of the Guard Mount in the mornings daily. 
Their drill is like stone walls, but the 
nature of the English music is without any 
meaning. We two saw the great temple, 
Seyn Pol [St. Paul's ?], where their dead are. 
It is as a country enclosed in a house. My 
companion ascended to the very roof-top 
and saw all the city. We are nothing beside 
these people. We two also saw the Bird 
Garden [Zoological Gardens] where they stu- 
diously preserve all sorts of wild animals, even 
down to jackals and green parrots. It is the 
nature of the English to consider all created 
beings as equal. The Badshah himself wears 
khaki. His son the Shahzada is a young 
man who inhabits the trenches except when 
he is forbidden. He is a keen son of the sword. 

[ 14] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

It is true that trains run underneath the 
city in all directions. We descended into 
the earth upon a falling platform [lift] and 
travelled. The stopping-places are as close 
as beads on a thread. The doors of the 
carriages are guarded with gates that strike 
out sideways like cobras. Each sitter is 
allowed a space upon a divan of yellow 
canework. When the divans are full the 
surplus hang from the roof by leathers. 
Though our carriage was full, place was 
made for us. At the end of our journey 
the train was halted beyond its lawful 
time that we might come forth at ease. 
The trains were full of English soldiers. 
All castes of the English are now soldiers. 
They are become like us Rajputs — as 
many people so many soldiers. 

We two saw houses, shops, carriages, and 
crowds till our souls were broken. The 
succeeding days were as the first, without 
intermission. We begged at last to be ex- 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

cused from the sight of the multitudes and 
the height of the houses. 

We two agreed that understanding is 
most needful in this present age. We in 
India must get education before all things. 
Hereafter we Rajputs must seriously con- 
sider our arrangements in all respects — in 
our houses as well as in our fields, etc., etc. 
Otherwise we become nothing. We have 
been deceived by the nature of the English. 
They have not at any time shown us any- 
thing of their possessions or their per- 
formances. We are not even children be- 
side them. They have dealt with us as 
though they were themselves children talk- 
ing chotee bolt [little talk]. In this manner 
the ill-informed have been misled. Noth- 
ing is known in India of the great strength 
of this people. Make that perfectly clear 
to all fools. Why should we who serve the 
Government have the blood of the misin- 
formed on our heads when they behave 

[16] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

foolishly ? This people have all the strength. 
There is no reason except the nature of the 
English that anything in their dominions 
should stand up which has been ordered to 
lie down. It is only their soft nature which 
saves evil from destruction. As the saying 
is, "We thought it was only an armed horse- 
man. Behold, it is an elephant bearing a 
tower!" 

It is in my mind that the glory of us 
Rajputs has become diminished since the 
old days. In the old days, our Princesses 
charged in battle beside their men, and the 
name of the clans was great. Then all Raj- 
puts were brothers and sisters. How has this 
come about? What man of us now relies 
upon the advice of his womenkind in any 
matter outside? In this country and in 
France the women understand perfectly 
what is needful in the day of trial. They 
say to their men: "Add to the renown 
of your race. We will attend to the rest 

[17] 



fc 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

through the excellent education which this 
just Government has caused us to receive/' 
Thus the men's hearts are lightened when 
they go to the war. They confide securely 
in their welf educated women. How is it 
with our horses? Shape and size from the 
sire: temper and virtue from the dam. If 
the mare endures thirst, the colt can run 
without water. Man's nature also draws 
from the spindle-side. Why have we 
allowed forgetfulness to impair our mem- 
ory? This was well known in the old days. 
In this country arrangements for wash- 
ing clothes exist in almost every house, 
such as tubs, boards, and irons, and there 
is a machine to squeeze water out of the 
washed clothes. They do not conceal their 
astonishment at our methods. Our women 
should be taught. Only by knowledge is 
anything achieved. Otherwise we are as 
children running about naked under the 
feet of grown men and women. 

[i8] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 

See what our women have already accom- 
plished by education ! The Thakore Sahib 
of Philawat was refused leave from the 
Government to go to the war, on account 
of his youth. Yet his sister, who wedded 
the Rana of Haliana had prepared a con- 
tingent of infantry out of her own dower- 
villages. They were set down in the roll 
of the Princes' contingents as stretcher- 
bearers: they being armed men out of the 
desert. She sent a telegram to her brother, 
commissioning him to go with them as 
Captain of stretcher-bearers: he being a son 
of the Sword for seventy generations. Thus 
cleverly he received permission from the 
Government to go. When they reached 
France he stole them out of the camp, every 
one of his sister's men, and joined himself to 
the Rajah of Kandesur's contingent. Those 
two boys together made their name bright 
in the trenches. The Philawat boy was hit 
twice and came to hospital here. The Govern- 

[19] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

ment sent him a sealed letter by messenger 
where he lay. He had great fear of it, be- 
cause what he and Kandesur had done was 
without orders. He expected a reprimand 
from the Government and also from his uncle 
because of the succession. But the letter 
was an announcement of decoration from the 
Shahzada himself, and when he had read it, 
the child hid his face beneath the sheets and 
wept for joy. I saw and heard this from 
my very bed in the hospital. So his Mili- 
tary Cross and the rest was due to the 
Maharanee of Haliana, his sister. Before 
her marriage she attended instruction in 
England at the great school for maidens 
called Ghatun [Girton ?]. She goes unveiled 
among Englishmen, laying hold upon her 
husband's right arm in public assemblies in 
open daylight. And Haliana is sunborn.* 
Consider it ! Consider it ! 



*The royal clans of the Rajputs derive their descent from the 
Sun. 

[20] 



A RETIRED GENTLEMAN 
Do not be concerned if I do not return. 
I have seen all the reports of all the arrange- 
ments made for burial, etc., etc., in this 
country. They are entirely in accordance 
with our faith. My youth and old age 
have been given to the service of the Gov- 
ernment, and if the Government can be 
served with the dust of my bones it is theirs. 
Now that my boy is dead in Arabia I have 
also withdrawn my petition to the Govern- 
ment for a land-grant. What use? The 
house is empty. 

Man does not remain in the world 
But his name remains. 
Though Jam and Suliman are gone 
Their names are not lost. 

When that arrives, my Maharanee Bah- 
aranee will despatch to you posh-free par 
parshel-posh [post-free per parcel-post] my 
Cross that the Badshah gave me, and a 
letter from my Captain Sahib's Mother with 

[21] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

whose brother I served when I was a man. 
As for my debts, it does not trouble me in 
the least that the moneylenders should 
be so troubled about them. But for the 
Army and the Police the people would 
have killed all moneylenders. Give my 
duty to the Rana of Pech, for his line were 
my father's overlords from the first. He 
can hang up my sword beside my father's. 
Do not be concerned for whatever over- 
takes me. I have sifted the sands of 
France: now I sift those of England. 
Here I am held in the greatest kindness 
and honour imaginable by all whom I 
meet. Though I am useless as a child 
yet they are unwearied of me. The nurses 
in my Maharanee Baharanee's Hospital, 
which is by day a home and a house to me, 
minister to me as daughters to a father. 
They run after me and rebuke me if I do 
not wear a certain coat when it rains daily. 
I am like a dying tree in a garden of flowers. 

[22] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

Scene. Pavilion and Dome Hospital, 
Brighton — 1915. 

What talk is this, Doctor Sahib? This 
Sahib says he will be my letter-writer? Just 
as though he were a bazar letter-writer at home? 
. . . What are the Sahib's charges? Two 
annas? Too much! I give one. . . . No. 
No! Sahib. You shouldn't have come down so 
quickly. Youve forgotten, we Sikhs alzvays 
bargain. . . . Well, one anna be it. 
I will give a bond to pay it out of my wound- 
pension when I get home. Sit by the side of 
my bed. . . . 

This is the trouble, Sahib. My brother who 
holds his land and works mine, outside 
Amritsar City, is a fool. He is older than I. 

[25] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

He has done his service and got one wound 
out of it in what they used to call war — that 
child's play in the Tirah years ago. He thinks 
himself a soldier! But that is not his offence. 
He sends me postcards. Sahib — scores of 
postcards — whining about the drouth or the 
taxes, or the crops, or our servants 9 pilferings 
or some such trouble. He doesnt know what 
trouble means. I want to tell him he is a 
fool. . . . What? True! True! One 
can get money and land but never a new 
brother. But for all that, he is a fool. . . . 
Is he a good farmer? S<z-heeb! // an 
Amritsar Sikh isnt a good farmer, a hen 
doesnt know an egg. . . . Is he hon- 
est? As my own pet yoke of bullocks. He 
is only a fool. My belly is on fire now with 
knowledge I never had before, and I wish 
to impart it to him — to the village elders 
— to all people. Yes, that is true, too. If 
I keep calling him a fool, he will not gain any 
knowledge. . . . Let me think it over on 

[26] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

all sides! Aha! Now that I have a bazar- 
writer of my own I will write a book — a very 
book of a letter to my fool of a brother, . . . 
And now we will begin. Take down my words 
from my lips to my foolish old farmer- 
brother: — 

"You will have received the notification 
of my wounds which I took in Franceville. 
Now that I am better of my wounds, I have 
leisure to write with a long hand. Here 
we have paper and ink at command. Thus 
it is easy to let off the fumes of our hearts. 
Send me all the news of all the crops and 
what is being done in our village. This 
poor parrot is always thinking of Kashmir. 

"As to my own concerns, the trench in 
which I sat was broken by a bomb-golee as 
large as our smallest grain-chest." [He'll 
go off and measure it at once!] " It dropped 
out of the air. It burst, the ground was 
opened and replaced upon seven of us. 

[27] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

I and two others took wounds. Sweet- 
meats are not distributed in war-time. 
God permitted my soul to live, by means 
of the doctors' strong medicines. I have 
inhabited six hospitals before I came here 
to England. This hospital is like a temple. 
It is set in a garden beside the sea. We 
lie on iron cots beneath a dome of gold and 
colours and glittering glass work, with 
pillars. " [You know that's true. Sahib. 
V T e can see it — but d'you think he'll believe? 
Never! Never!] "Our food is cooked for 
us according to our creeds — Sikh, or Brah- 
min, or Mussulman and all the rest — 
When a man dies he is also buried according 
to his creed. Though he has been a groom 
or a sweeper, he is buried like some great 
land-owner. Do not let such matters trou- 
ble you henceforth. Living or dying, all is 
done in accordance with the ordinance of 
our faiths. Some low-caste men, such as 
sweepers, counting upon the ignorance 

[28] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

of the doctors here make a claim to be of 
reputable caste in order that they may 
get consideration. If a sweeper in this hos- 
pital says he is forbidden by his caste to 
do certain things he is believed. He is 
not beaten/' [Now, why is that, Sahib? 
They ought to be beaten for pretending to have 
caste, and making a mock of the doctors. 
I should slipper them publicly — but — Vm 
not the Government. We will go on.] 

"The English do not despise any sort of 
work. They are of many castes, but they 
are all one kind in this. On account of my 
wounds, I have not yet gone abroad to see 
English fields or towns." [It is true I have 
been out twice in a motor-carriage, Sahib, 
but that goes too quickly for a man to see shops, 
let alone faces. We will not tell him that. 
He does not like motor-cars.] "The French 
in Franceville work continually without rest. 
The French and the Phlahamahnds [Flam- 
ands] who are a caste of French, are Kings 

[29] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

among cultivators. As to cultivation — " 
[Now, I pray. Sahib, write quickly for I am 
as full of this matter as a buffalo of water] 
"their fields are larger than ours, without 
any divisions, and they do not waste any- 
thing except the width of the footpath. 
Their land descends securely from father to 
son upon payment of tax to the Govern- 
ment, just as in civilized countries. I have 
observed that they have their land always 
at their hearts and in their mouths, just as 
in civilized countries. They do not grow 
more than one crop a year, but this is rec- 
ompensed to them because their fields do 
not need irrigation. The rain in France- 
ville is always sure and abundant and in 
excess. They grow all that we grow such 
as peas, onions, garlic, spinach, beans, cab* 
bages and wheat. They do not grow small 
grains or millet, and their only spice is mus- 
tard. They do not drink water, but the 
juice of apples which they squeeze into bar- 

(3°f 



The fumes of the heart 

rels for that purpose. A full bottle is sold 
for two pice. They do not drink milk 
but there is abundance of it. It is all 
cows' milk, of which they make butter in 
a churn which is turned by a dog." [Now, 
how shall we make my brother believe that? 
Write it large.] "In Franceville, the dogs 
are both courteous and industrious. They 
play with the cat, they tend the sheep, 
they churn the butter, they draw a cart and 
guard it too. When a regiment meets a 
flock, the dogs of their own wisdom order 
the sheep to step to one side of the road. 
I have often seen this." [Not one word of 
this will he or anyone in the villages believe, 
Sahib. What can you expect? They have 
never even seen Lahore City! We will tell 
him what he can understand.] ' Ploughs 
and carts are drawn by horses. Oxen are 
not used for these purposes in these villages. 
The field work is wholly done by old men 
and women and children, who can all 

[31] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

read and write. The young men are all 
at the war. The war comes also to the 
people in the villages, but they do not re- 
gard the war because they are cultivators. 
I have a friend among the French — an old 
man in the village where the Regiment was 
established, who daily fills in the holes 
made in his fields by the enemy's shells 
with dirt from a long-handled spade. I 
begged him once to desist when we were to- 
gether on this work, but he said that idle- 
ness would cause him double work for the 
day following. His grandchild, a very 
small maiden, grazed a cow behind a wood 
where the shells fell, and was killed in that 
manner. Our Regiment was told the news 
and they took an account of it, for she was 
often among them, begging buttons from 
their uniforms. She was small and full of 
laughter, and she had learned a little of 
our tongue." [Yes. That was a very great 
shame, Sahib. She was the child of us all. 

[32] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

We exacted a payment, but she was slain — 
slain like a calf for no fault. A black shame! 
. . , We will write about other matters.] 

"As to cultivation, there are no words for 
its excellence or for the industry of the 
cultivators. They esteem manure most 
highly. They have no need to burn cow- 
dung for fuel. There is abundance of 
charcoal. Thus, not irrigating nor burn- 
ing dung for fuel, their wealth increases of 
itself. They build their houses from an- 
cient times round about mountainous dung- 
heaps, upon which they throw all things in 
season. It is a possession from father to 
son, and increase comes forth. Owing 
to the number of Army horses in certain 
places there arises very much horse-dung. 
When it is excessive, the officers cause a 
little straw to be lit near the heaps. The 
French and the Phlahamahnds seeing the 
smoke, assemble with carts, crying: — 
What waste is this?' The officers reply: — 

[ 33 1 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

'None will carry away this dung. There- 
fore, we burn it.' All the cultivators then 
entreat for leave to carry it away in their 
carts, be it only as much as two dogs can 
draw. By this device horse-lines are 
cleaned. 

"Listen to one little thing. The women 
and the girls cultivate as well as the men in 
all respects." [That is a true tale, Sahib. 
We know — but my brother knows nothing 
except the road to market.] "They plough 
with two and four horses as great as hills. 
The women of Franceville also keep the 
accounts and the bills. They make one 
price for everything. No second price is to 
be obtained by any talking. They cannot 
be cheated over the value of one grain. 
Yet of their own will they are generous 
beyond belief. When we come back from 
our work in the trenches, they arise at any 
hour and make us warm drinks of hot coffee 
and milk and bread and butter. May God 

[34] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 
reward these ladies a thousand times for 
their kindness! 

"But do not throw everything upon God. 
I desire you will get me in Amritsar City 
a carpet, at the shop of Davee Sahai and 
Chumba Mall — one yard in width and one 
yard and a half in length, of good colour and 
quality to the value of forty rupees. The 
shop must send it with all charges paid, 
to the address which I have had written in 
English character on the edge of this paper. 
She is the lady of the house in which I was 
billeted in a village for three months. 
Though she was advanced in years and 
belonged to a high family, yet in the whole 
of those three months I never saw this old 
lady sit idle. Her three sons had gone to 
the war. One had been killed; one was in 
hospital, and a third, at that time, was in 
the trenches. She did not weep nor wail 
at the death or the sickness but accepted 
the dispensation. During the time I was 

[35] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

in her house, she ministered to me to such 
an extent that I cannot adequately describe 
her kindness. Of her own free-will she 
washed my clothes, arranged my bed, and 
polished my boots daily for three months. 
She washed down my bedroom daily with 
hot water, having herself heated it. Each 
morning she prepared me a tray with 
bread, butter, milk and coffee. When we 
had to leave that village that old lady wept 
on my shoulder. It is strange that I had 
never seen her weep for her dead son, but 
she wept for me. Moreover, at parting 
she would have had me take a fi-farang [five 
franc] note for expenses on the road." [What 
a woman! What a woman! I had never be- 
lieved such women existed in this Black Age\ 
"If there be any doubt of the quality 
or the colour of the carpet, ask for an 
audience of the Doctor Linley Sahib if he 
be still in Amritsar. He knows carpets. 
Tell him all I have written concerning this 

[36] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

old lady — may God keep her and her re- 
maining household! — and he will advise. 
I do not know the Doctor Sahib, but this 
he will overlook in war-time. If the carpet 
is even fifty rupees, I can securely pay out 
of the monies which our lands owe me. 
She is an old lady. It must be soft to her 
feet, and not inclined to slide upon the 
wooden floor. She is well-born and edu- 
cated/* 5 [And now we will begin to enlighten 
him and the elders!] 

"We must cause our children to be 
educated in the future. That is the opinion 
of all the Regiment, for by education, even 
women accomplish marvels, like the women 
of Franceville. Get the boys and girls 
taught to read and write well. Here teach- 
ing is by Government order. The men 
go to the war daily. It is the women who 
do all the work at home, having been well 
taught in their childhood. We have only 
yoked one buffalo to the plough up till now. 

[37] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

It is now time to yoke up the milch-buffaloes. 
Tell the village elders this and exercise in- 
fluence/' [Write that down strongly, Sahib. 
We who have seen Franc eville all know it is 
true,] 

"But as to cultivation. The methods 
in Franceville are good. All tools are of 
iron. They do not break. A man keeps the 
tools he needs for his work and his repairs 
in his house under his own hand. He has 
not to go back to the village a mile away if 
anything breaks. We never thought, as 
these people do, that all repairs to tools and 
ploughs can be done on the very spot. 
All that is needed when a strap breaks, is 
that each ploughman should have an awl 
and a leather-cutter to stitch the leather. 
How is it with us in our country? If 
leather breaks, we farmers say that leather 
is unclean, and we go back from the fields 
into the village to the village cobbler that 
he may mend it. Unclean? Do not we 

[38] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

handle that same thing with the leather on 
it after it has been repaired? Do we not 
even drink water all day with the very 
hand that has sweated into the leather? 
Meantime, we have surely lost an hour or 
two in coming and going from the fields. " 
[He zvill understand that. He chatters like 
a monkey when the men waste time. But 
the village cobbler will be very angry with me!] 
"The people of Franceville are astonished 
to learn that all our land is full of dogs 
which do no work — not even to keep the 
cattle out of the tilled fields. Among the 
French, both men and women and little 
children occupy themselves with work at 
all times on the land. The children wear no 
jewelry, but they are more beautiful than 
I can say. It is a country where the 
women are not veiled. Their marriage is 
at their own choice, and takes place between 
their twentieth and twenty-fifth year. 
They seldom quarrel or shout out. They 

[39] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

do not pilfer from each other. They do not 
tell lies at all. When calamity overtakes 
them there is no ceremonial of grief such 
as tearing the hair or the like. They 
swallow it down and endure silently. 
Doubtless, this is the fruit of learning in 
youth." 

[Now we will have a word for our Guru at 
home. He is a very holy man. Write 
this carefully, Sahib.] "It is said that the 
French worship idols. I have spoken of 
this with my old lady and her guru [priest]. 
It is not true in any way. There are cer- 
tainly images in their shrines and deotas 
[local gods] to whom they present petitions 
as we do in our home affairs, but the 
prayer of the heart goes to the God Him- 
self. I have been assured this by the old 
priests. All the young priests are fighting 
in the war. The French men uncover the 
head but do not take off the shoes at prayer. 
They do not speak of their religion to 

[40] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

strangers, and they do not go about to make 
converts. The old priest in the village 
where I was billeted so long, said that all 
roads, at such times as these, return to 
God." [Our Guru at home says that himself; 
so he cannot be surprised if there are others 
who think it.] "The old priest gave me a 
little medal which he wished me to wear 
round my neck. Such medals are reckoned 
holy among the French. He was a very 
holy man and it averts the Evil Eye. The 
women also carry holy beads to help keep 
count of their prayers. 

"Certain men of our Regiment divided 
among themselves as many as they could 
pick up of the string of such beads that used 
to be carried by the small maiden whom the 
shell slew. It was found forty yards dis- 
tant from the hands. It was that small 
maiden who begged us for our buttons and 
had no fear. The Regiment made an 
account of it, reckoning one life of the 

[41 1 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

enemy for each bead. They deposited 
the beads as a pledge with the regimental 
clerk. When a man of the guarantors be- 
came killed, the number of his beads which 
remained unredeemed was added to the 
obligation of the other guarantors, or they 
elected an inheritor of the debt in his place." 
[He will understand that. It was all very 
correct and business-like, Sahib. Our Pathan 
Company arranged it.] " It was seven weeks 
before all her beads were redeemed because 
the weather was bad and our guns were strong 
and the enemy did not stir abroad after 
dark. When all the account was cleared, 
the beads were taken out of pawn and re- 
turned to her grandfather, with a certifi- 
cate, and he wept. 

"This war is not a war. It is a world- 
destroying battle. All that has gone before 
this war in this world till now has been 
only boys throwing coloured powder at 
each other. No man could conceive it! 

[42] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

What do you or the Mohmunds or anyone 
who has not been here know of war? 
When the ignorant in future speak of war, 
I shall laugh, even though they be my elder 
brethren. Consider what things are done 
here and for what reasons. 

"A little before I took my wounds, I 
was on duty near an officer who worked 
in wire and wood and earth to make traps 
for the enemy. He had acquired a tent of 
green cloth upon sticks, with a window of 
soft glass that could not be broken. All 
coveted the tent. It was three paces long 
and two wide. Among the covetous was 
an Officer of Artillery in charge of a gun 
that shook mountains. It gave out a 
shell of ten maunds or more [eight hundred 
pounds]. But those who have never seen 
even a rivulet cannot imagine the Indus. 
He offered many rupees to purchase the 
tent. He would come at all hours increas- 
ing his offer. He overwhelmed the owner 

[43] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

with talk about it." [/ heard them often, 
Sahib.] "At last, and I heard this. also, 
that tent-owner said to that Artillery 
Officer: — 'I am wearied with your impor- 
tunity. Destroy to-day a certain house 
that I shall show you, and I will give you 
the tent for a gift. Otherwise, have no 
more talk/ He showed him the roof of a 
certain white house which stood back three 
kos [six miles] in the enemy country, a little 
underneath a hill with woods on each side. 
Consider this, measuring three kos in your 
mind along the Amritsar Road. The Gun- 
ner Officer said: — 'By God, I accept this 
bargain.' He issued orders and estimated 
the distance. I saw him going back and 
forth as swiftly as a lover. Then fire was 
delivered and at the fourth discharge the 
watchers through their glasses saw the 
house spring high and spread abroad and 
lie upon its face. It was as a tooth taken 
out by a barber. Seeing this, the Gunner 

[44] 



THE FUMES OF THE HEART 

Officer sprang into the tent and looked 
through the window and smiled because 
the tent was now his. But the enemy did 
not understand the reasons. There was 
a great gunfire all that night, as well as 
many enemy-regiments moving about. 
The prisoners taken afterwards told us their 
commanders were disturbed at the fall of 
the house, ascribing it to some great design 
on our part, so that their men had no rest 
for a week. Yet it was all done for a little 
green tent's sake ! 

"I tell you this that you may under- 
stand the meaning of things. This is a 
world where the very hills are turned up- 
side down, with the cities upon them. 
He who comes alive out of this business 
will forever after be as a giant. If anyone 
wishes to see it let him come here or remain 
disappointed all his life." 

[We will finish with affection and sweet 
words. After all y a brother is a brother.] 

US] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

"As for myself, why do you write to me so 
many complaints? Are you fighting in 
this war or I? You know the saying: 
'A soldier's life is for his family: his death 
is for his country: his discomforts are for 
himself alone/ I joined to fight when I 
was young. I have eaten the Govern- 
ment's salt till I am old. I am discharging 
my obligation. When all is at an end, 
the memory of our parting will be but a 
dream. 

"I pray the Guru to bring together those 
who are separated. 

"God alone is true. Everything else is 
but a shadow." 

[That is poetry. Oh — and add this, Sahib.] 

"Let there be no delay about the carpet. 
She would not accept anything else." 



[46] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Scene: Three and a half miles across the 
Border — Kohat way. Time: The edge 
of sunset. Single room in a stone built 
tower house reached by a ladder from 
the ground. An Afghan woman, wrap- 
ped in a red cotton quilt, squats on the 
floor trimming a small kerosene lamp. 
Her husband, an elderly Afghan with a 
purple dyed beard, lies on a native cot, 
covered by a striped blue and white 
cloth. He is wounded in the knee and 
hip. A Government rifle leans against 
the cot. Their son, aged twenty, kneels 
beside him, unfolding a letter. As 
the mother places the lighted lamp 
in a recess in the wall, the son picks 
[49] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

up the rifle and pushes the half-opened 
door home with the butt. The wife 
passes her husband a filled pipe of 
tobacco, blowing on the charcoal ball 
in the bowl. 

Son [as he unfolds letter]. It is from France. 
His Regiment is still there. 

Father. What does he say about the 
money ? 

Son [reading]. He says: "I am made easy 
by the news that you are now receiving 
my pay-allotment regularly. You may 
depend upon its coming every month 
henceforward. I have also sent eleven 
rupees over and above the allotment. 
It is a gift towards the purchase of 
the machine needed in your business." 

Father [drawing a cheap nickel-plated re- 
volver from his breast]. It is a good 
machine, and he is a good son. What 
else. 

Son. He says: " You tell me our enemies 

[50] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

have killed my uncle and my brother, 
beside wounding our father. I am very 
far away and can give no help what- 
ever. It is a matter for great regret. 
Our enemies are now two lives to 
the good against us in the account. We 
must take our revenge quickly. The 
responsibility, I suppose, is altogether 
on the head of my youngest brother." 

Father. But I am still good for sitting- 
shots. 

Mother [soothingly]. Ah! But he means, 
to think over all the arrangements. 
Wounded men cannot think clearly 
till the fever is out of the wound. 

Son [reading]. "My youngest brother said 
he would enlist after me when the 
harvest was gathered. That is now 
out of the question. Tell him he must 
attend to the work in hand. ,, (That 
is true, I cannot enlist now.) "Tell 
him not to wander about after the 
[51] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

people who did the actual killing. 
They will probably have taken refuge 
on the Government side of the Bor- 
der/ ' (That is true, too. It is ex- 
actly what they did.) "Even up the 
account from the nearest household 
of our enemies. This will force the 
murderers for their honour's sake to 
return and attend to their proper 
business when — God willing — they can 
be added as a bonus. Take our revenge 
quickly.'' 

Father [stroking beard]. This is all wis- 
dom. I have a man for a son. What 
else does he say, Akbar? 

Son. He says: "I have a letter from 
Kohat telling me that a certain man 
of a family that we know is coming 
out here with a draft in order to settle 
with me for an account which he says 
I opened." 

Mother [quickly]. Would that be Gul 

[52] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Shere Khan — about that Peshawari 
girl? 
Son. Perhaps. But Ahmed is not afraid. 
Listen! He says: "If that man or 
even his brothers wish to come to 
France after me I shall be very pleased. 
If, in fact, anyone wishes to kill me, 
let them by all means come out. 
I am here present in the field of battle. 
I have placed my life on a tray. The 
people in our country who talk about 
killing are children. They have not 
seen the reality of things. We do not 
turn our heads when forty are killed 
at a breath. Men are swallowed up or 
blown apart here as one divides meat. 
When we are in the trenches, there is 
no time to strike a blow on the private 
account. When we are at rest in the 
villages, one's lust for killing has been 
satisfied. Two men joined us in the 
draft last month to look after a close 
[53] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

friend of mine with whom they had a 
private account. They were great 
swash-bucklers at first. They even 
volunteered to go into the trenches 
though it was not their turn of duty. 
They expected that their private ac- 
count could be settled during some 
battle. Since that turn of duty they 
have become quite meek. They had, 
till then, only seen men killed by ones 
and twos, half a mile separating them. 
This business was like killing flies on 
sugar. Have no fear for me, therefore, 
no matter who joins the Regiment. 
It needs a very fierce stomach to add 
anything to our Government rations/' 

Mother. He writes like a poet, my son. 
That is wonderful writing. 

Father. All the young men write the 
same with regard to the war. It 
quite satisfies all desires. What else 
does he say ? 

['54 ] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Son [summarizing]. He says that he is 
well fed and has learned to drink the 
French coffee. He says there are two 
sorts of French tobacco — one yellow, 
one blue. The blue, he says, is the 
best. They are named for the papers 
they are wrapped in. He says that on 
no account must we send him any 
opium or drugs, because the punishment 
for drugging is severe and the doctors 
are quick to discover. He desires to be 
sent to him some strong hair-dye of 
the sort that our father uses. 

Mother [with a gesture]. Hair-dye! He 
is a child. What's he been doing? 

Son. He says he wishes to win favour 
from his native officer whose white 
hairs are showing and who has no 
proper dye. He says he will repay the 
cost and that no charges are made 
for the parcel. It must be very strong 
henna-dye. 

[55] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

Mother [laughing]. It shall be. I will 
make it myself. A start it gave me 
to hear him ask for dyes! They are 
not due for another twenty years. 

Father [fretfully]. Read it. Read it all 
as it is written, word for word. What 
else does he say? 

Son. He speaks of the country of the 
French. Listen! He says: "This 
country is full of precious objects, 
such as grain, ploughs, and imple- 
ments, and sheep which lie about the 
fields by day with none to guard them. 
The French are a virtuous people and 
do not steal from each other. If a 
man merely approaches towards any- 
. thing there are eyes watching him. 
To take one chicken is to loosen the 
tongues of fifty old women. I was 
warned on joining that the testimony 
of one such would outweigh the testi- 
mony of six honourable Pathans. It 
[56] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

is true. Money and valuables are, 
therefore, left openly in houses. None 
dare even to look at them with a 
covetous eye. I have seen two hun- 
dred rupees' worth of clothing hung up 
on a nail. None knew the owner, 
yet it remained till her return. ' 

Mother. That is the country for me! 
Dresses worth two hundred rupees 
hanging on nails! Princesses all they 
must be. 

Son [continuing]. Listen to these fresh 
marvels. He says: "We reside in 
brick houses with painted walls of 
flowers and birds; we sit upon chairs 
covered with silks. We sleep on high 
beds that cost a hundred rupees each. 
There is glass in all the doors and 
windows; the abundance of iron and 
brass, pottery, and copper kitchen- 
utensils is not to be estimated. Every 
house is a palace of entertainment 
£ 57] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

filled with clocks, lamps, candlesticks, 
gildings, and images. '" 

Father. What a country! What a coun- 
try! How much will he be able to 
bring back of it all ? 

Son. He says: "The inhabitants defend 
their possessions to the uttermost — 
even down to the value of half a 
chicken or a sheep's kidney. They 
do not keep their money in their 
houses, but send it away on loan. 
Their rates of interest are very low. 
They talk among themselves of loans 
and pledges and the gaining of money, 
just as we do. We Indian troops are 
esteemed and honoured by all, by the 
children specially. These children 
wear no jewelry. Therefore, there are 
no murders committed for the sake of 
ornaments except by the enemy. These 
children resemble small moons. They 
make mud figures in their play of men 
[58] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

and horses. He who can add figures 
of oxen, elephants and palanquins is 
highly praised. Do you remember 
when I used to make them?" 

Mother. Do I remember? Am I a block 
of wood or an old churn? Go on, 
Akbar? What of my child? 

Son. He says: "When the children are 
not in the school they are at work in the 
fields from their earliest years. They 
soon lose all fear of us soldiers, and 
drill us up and down the streets of the 
villages. The smallest salute on all 
occasions. They suffer little from sick- 
ness. The old women here are skilful in 
medicines. They dry the leaves of trees 
and give them for a drink against 
diseases. One old woman gave me an 
herb to chew for a worm in my tooth 
[toothache] which cured me in an hour." 

Mother. God reward that woman! I 
wonder what she used. 
[59] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

Son. He says: "She is my French 
mother." 

Mother. What-t! How many mothers 
has a man? But God reward her 
none the less! It must have been 
that old double-tooth at the back on 
the left lower side, for I remember — 

Father. Let it wait. It is cured now. 
What else does he write? 

Son. He writes, making excuses for not 
having written. He says: "I have 
been so occupied and sent from one 
place to another that on several oc- 
casions I have missed the post. I 
know you must have experienced anx- 
iety. But do not be displeased. Let my 
mother remember that I can only write 
when I have opportunity, and the only 
remedy for helplessness is patience. " 

Father [groaning]. Ah! He has not yet 
been wounded, and he sets himself 
up for a physician. 
[60] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 
Mother. He speaks wisely and beautifully. 
But what of his " French mother"— 
burn her! 
Son. He says: "Moreover, this French 
mother of mine in France is displeased 
with me if I do not write to her about 
my welfare. My mother, like you, my 
French mother does all she can for my 
welfare. I cannot write sufficiently 
in praise of what she does for me. 
When I was in the village behind the 
trench if, on any day, by reason of 
duty, I did not return till evening, she, 
herself, would come in search of me and 
lead me back to the house. 
Mother. Aha! She knew! I wish I 
could have caught him by the other 

ear! 
Son. He says: "And when I was sent 
away on duty to another village, and 
so could not find time to write either 
to you or to her, she came close to the 
[61] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

place where I was and where no one is 
permitted to come and asked to see her 
boy. She brought with her a great 
parcel of things for me to eat. What 
more am I to say for the concern she 
has for my welfare?" 

Mother. Fools all old women are! May 
God reward that Kafir woman for her 
kindness, and her children after her. 
. . As though any orders could keep 
out a mother! Does he say what she 
resembles in the face ? 

Son. No. He goes on to speak more 
about the customs of the French. 
He says: "The new men who join us 
come believing they are in the country 
of the Rakshas [Demons]. They are 
told this by the ignorant on their 
departure. It is always cold here. 
Many clothes are worn. The sun is 
absent. The wet is present. Yet 
this France is a country created by 
[62] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Allah, and its people are manifestly a 
reasonable people with reason for all 
they do. The windows of their houses 
are well barred. The doors are strong, 
with locks of a sort I have never before 
tried. Their dogs are faithful. They 
gather in and keep their kine and their 
asses and their hens under their hands 
at night. Their cattle graze and re- 
turn at the proper hour in charge of 
the children. They prune their fruit 
trees as carefully as our barbers attend 
to men's nostrils and ears. The old 
women spin, walking up and down. 
Scissors, needles, threads, and buttons 
are exposed for sale on stalls in a market. 
They carry hens by the feet. Butchers 
sell dressed portions of fowls and sheep 
ready to be cooked. There is aniseed, 
coriander, and very good garlic." 
Mother. But all this — but all this is our 
very own way — 

[63] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

Son. He says so. He says: "Seeing 
these things, the new men are relieved 
in their minds. Do not be anxious 
for me. These people precisely resem- 
ble all mankind. They are, however, 
idolators. They do not speak to any 
of us about their religion. Their 
Imams [priests] are old men of pious 
appearance, living in poverty. They 
go about their religious offices, even 
while the shells fall. Their God is 
called Bandoo [Bon Dieu?]. There is 
also the Bibbee Miriam [the Virgin 
Mary]. She is worshipped on ac- 
count of the intelligence and capacity 
of the women." 

Father. Hmm! Ah! This travelling 
about' is bad for the young. Women 
are women — world over. What else, 
Akbar? 

Son [reading], "There are holy women in 
this country, dressed in black who wear 
[64] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

horns of white cloth on their heads. 
They too, are without any sort of fear 
of death from the falling shells. I 
am acquainted with one such who 
often commands me to carry vegetables 
from the market to the house which 
they inhabit. It is filled with the 
fatherless. She is very old, very high- 
born, and of irascible temper. All 
men call her Mother. The Colonel 
himself salutes her. Thus are all sorts 
mingled in this country of France." 

Mother. Ha! Well, at least that holy 
woman was well-born, but she is too 
free with her tongue. Go on! 

Son. He says: "Through my skill with 
my rifle, I have been made a sharp- 
shooter. A special place is given to 
me to shoot at the enemy singly. 
This was old work to me. This coun- 
try was flat and open at the beginning. 
In time it became all kandari-kauderi — 
[65] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

cut up — with trenches, sungars and bye- 
ways in the earth. Their faces show 
well behind the loop-holes of their 
sungars. The distance was less than 
three hundred yards. Great cunning 
was needed. Before they grew careful, 
I accounted for nine in five days. 
It is more difficult by night. They 
then send up fireballs which light all 
the ground. This is a good arrange- 
ment to reveal one's enemy, but the 
expense would be too great for poor 
people." 

Father. He thinks of everything — every- 
thing! Even of the terrible cost for 
us poor people. 

Son [reading], "I attended the funeral of 
a certain French child. She was 
known to us all by the name of 'Marri' 
which is Miriam. She would openly 
claim the Regiment for her own regi- 
ment in the face of the Colonel walking 
166] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

in the street. She was slain by a shell 
while grazing cattle. What remained 
was carried upon a litter precisely 
after our custom. There were no 
hired mourners. All mourners walked 
slowly behind the litter, the women 
with the men. It is not their custom to 
scream or beat the breast. They re- 
cite all prayers above the grave itself 
for they reckon the burial-ground to 
be holy. The prayers are recited by 
the Imam of the village. The grave 
is not bricked and there is no recess. 
They do not know that the Two Angels 
visit the dead. They say at the end, 
'Peace and Mercy be on you'." 

Mother. One sees as he writes! He 
would have made a great priest, this 
son of ours. So they pray over their 
dead, out yonder, those foreigners? 

Father. Even a Kafir may pray, but — 
they are manifestly Kafirs or they 
[67] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

would not pray in a grave-yard. Go 
on! 

Son. "When their prayers were done, our 
Havildar-Major, who is orthodox, re- 
cited the appropriate verse from the 
Koran, and cast a little mud into the 
grave. The Imam of the village then 
embraced him. I do not know if this 
is the custom. The French weep very 
little. The French women are small- 
handed and small-footed. They bear 
themselves in walking as though they 
were of birth and descent. They com- 
mune with themselves, walking up and 
down. Their lips move. This is on 
account of their dead. They are never 
abashed or at a loss for words. They 
forget nothing. Nothing either do 
they forgive." 

Mother. Good. Very good. That is the 
right honour. 

Son. Listen! He says: "Each /village 

[68] 



\ 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

keeps a written account of all that the 
enemy has done against it. If a life 
— a life, whether it be man or priest, or 
hostage, or woman or babe. Every 
horn driven off; and every feather; all 
bricks and tiles broken, all things 
burned, and their price, are written in 
the account. The shames and the 
insults are also written. There is no 
price set against them." 

Father. This is without flaw! This is a 
people! There is never any price for 
shame offered. And they write it all 
down. Marvellous ! 

Son. Yes. He says : " Each village keeps 
its own tally and all tallies go to their 
Government to be filed. The whole 
of the country of France is in one great 
account against the enemy — for the 
loss, for the lives, and for the shames 
done. It has been kept from the first. 
The women keep it with the men. 
[69] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

All French women read, write, and 
cast accounts from youth. By this 
they are able to keep the great account 
against the enemy. I think that it is 
good that our girls should get schooling- 
like this. Then we shall have no more 
confusion in our accounts. It is only 
to add up the sums lost and the lives. 
We should teach our girls. We are 
fools compared with these people/' 

Mother. But a Pathani girl remembers 
without all this book-work. It is 
waste. Who of any decent descent 
ever forgot a blood-debt ? He must be 
sickening for illness to write thus. 

Father. One should not forget. Yet we 
depend on songs and tales. It is more 
secure — certainly, it is more business- 
like — that a written account should 
be kept. Since it is the men who must 
pay off the debt, why should not the 
women keep it ? 

[70] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Mother. They can keep tally on a 
stick or a distaff. It is unnecessary 
for a girl to scribble in books. They 
never come to good ends. They end 
by- 

Son. Sometimes, my mother, sometimes. 
On the Government side of the Border, 
women are taught to read, and write, 
and cast accounts, and — 

Mother [with intention]. Far be the day 
when such an one is brought to my 
house as a bride. For / say — 

Father. No matter. What does he say 
about those French women? 

Son. He says: "They are not divided in 
opinion as to which of their enemies 
shall be sought after first. They say: 
'Let us even the account every day and 
night out of the nearest assembly of 
the enemy and when we have brought 
all the enemy into the right way of 
thinking we can demand the very 
[71] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

people who did the shame and offences. 
In the meantime, let it be any life/ 
This is good counsel for us in our ac- 
count, oh my mother." 

Father [after a pause]. True! True! It 
is good advice. Let it be any life. 
... Is that all? 

Son. That is all. He says : " Let it be any 
life." And I think so too. 

Mother. "Any Iife. ,> Even so! And 
then we can write to him quickly that 
we have taken our revenge quickly. 
[She reaches for her husband's rifle 
which she passes over to her son y who 
stretches his hand towards it with a 
glance at his father.] 

Father. On your head, Akbar, our ac- 
count must lie — at least till I am 
better. Do you try to-night? 

Son. May be! I wish we had the high- 
priced illuminating fireballs he spoke 
of. [Half rises.] 

[72] 



THE PRIVATE ACCOUNT 

Mother. Wait a little. There is the call 
for the Ishr [the evening prayer]. 

Muezzin [in the village mosque without as the 
first stars show]. God is great! God 
is great! God is great! I bear wit- 
ness, etc. 

[The family compose themselves for evening 
prayer.] 



[73] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

• 

To the sister of the pensioned Risaldar 
Major Abdul Qadr Khan, at her own house 
behind the shrine of Gulu Shah near by the 
village of Korake in the Pasrur Tehsil of the 
Sialkot District in the Province of the Punjab. 
Sent out of the country of France on the 23rd 
of August, IQ16, by Duffadar Abdul Rahman 
of the 132nd (Pakpattan) Cavalry — late Lam- 
barfs Horse. 

IVl other! The news is that once only in 
five months I have not received a letter from 
you. My thoughts are always with you. 
Mother, put your ear down and listen to 
me. Do not fret; I will soon be with you 
again. Imagine that I have merely gone to 

[77] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

Lyallpur [the big recuiting-depot in India]; 
think that I have been delayed there by an 
officer's order, or that I am not yet ready 
to come back. Mother, think of me always 
as though I were sitting near by, just as I 
imagine you always beside me. Be of 
good cheer, Mother, there is nothing that 
I have done wh ch is hidden from you. 
I tell you truly, Mother, I will salute you 
again. Do not grieve. I tell you confi- 
dently I shall bow before you again in sal- 
utation. It will be thus, Mother. I shall 
come in the dead of the night and knock 
at your door. Then I will call loudly that 
you may wake and open the door to me. 
With great delight you will open the door 
and fold me to your breast, my Mother. 
Then I will sit down beside you and tell 
you what has happened to me — good and 
evil. Then having rested the night in 
comfort I will go out after the day has come 
and I will salute all my brethren at the 

[78] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 
mosque and in the village. Then I will return 
and eat my bread in pleasure and happiness. 
You, Mother, will say to me: " Shall I 
give you some ghi?" [native butter]. I 
will say at first proudly, like one who has 
travelled:— " No, I want none." You will 
press me, and I will softly push my plate 
over to you and you will fill it with ghi, 
and I shall dip my cake in it with delight. 
Believe me, Mother, this homecoming will 
take place just as I have described it. I 
see you before me always. It seems to me 
only yesterday that I bent to your feet 
when I made salutation and you put your 
hand upon my head. 

Mother, put your trust in God to guard 
my head. If f my grave lies in France it 
can never be in the Punjab, though we 
try for a thousand years. If it be in the 
Punjab then I shall certainly return to it to 
that very place. Meantime, Mother, con- 
sider what I have to eat. This is the true 

[79] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

list. I eat daily sugar and ghi and flour, salt, 
meat, red peppers, some almonds and dates, 
sweets of various kinds as well as raisins 
and cardamoms. In the morning I eat 
tea and white biscuits. An hour after, 
halwa and puri [native dishes]. At noon, 
tea and bread; at seven o'clock of the even- 
ing, vegetable curry. At bedtime I drink 
milk. There is abundance of milk in this 
country. I am more comfortable here, I 
swear it to you, Mother, than any high 
officer in India. As for our clothing, there 
is no account kept of it. You would cry 
out, Mother, to see the thick cloth expended. 
So I beg you, Mother, to take comfort con- 
cerning your son. Do not tear my heart by 
telling me your years. Though we both 
lived to be as old as elephants I am your son 
who will come asking for you as I said, at 
your door. 
As to the risk of death, who is free from 

it anywhere? Certainly not in the Pun- 

[80] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 
jab. I hear that all those religious mendi- 
cants at Zilabad have proclaimed a holy 
fair this summer in order that pious people 
may feed them, and now, having collected 
in thousands beside the river in hot weather, 
they have spread cholera all over the dis- 
trict. There is trouble raging throughout 
all the world, Mother, and yet these sons of 
mean fathers must proclaim a beggars' 
festival in order to add to it! There should 
be an order of the Government to take all 
those lazy rascals out of India into France 
and put them in our front-line that their 
bodies may be sieves for the machine guns. 
Why cannot they blacken their faces and 
lie in a corner with a crust of bread ? It is 
certainly right to feed the family priests, 
Mother, but when the idle assemble in 
thousands begging and making sickness 
and polluting the drinking-water, punish- 
ment should be administered. 
Very much sickness, such as cholera and 

[81]' 



THE 4 EYES OF ASIA 

dysentery, is caused by drinking foul water. 
Therefore, it is best to have it boiled, 
Mother, no matter what is said. When 
clothes are washed in foul water, sickness 
also spreads. You will say, Mother, that 
I am no longer a trooper but a washer- 
woman or an apothecary, but I swear to 
you, my Mother, what I have said is true. 
Now, I have two charges to deliver to you 
as to the household under you. I beg you, 
my Mother, to give order that my son drink 
water which is boiled, at least from the 
beginning of the hot weather till after the 
Rains. That is one charge. The second is 
that when I was going down to the sea with 
the Regiment from home, the Lady Doctor 
Sahiba in the Civil Lines asked of our 
Colonel's lady whether any of us desired that 
their households should take the charm 
against the small-pox [be vaccinated]. I was 
then busy with my work and I made no reply. 
Now let that Doctor Sahiba know that I 

[82] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

desire by her favour that my son take the 
charm as soon as may be. I charge you, 
Mother, upon his head that it is done soon. 
I beg you respectfully to take this charge 
upon you. 

Oh, my Mother, if I could now see you 
for but half of one watch in the night or at 
evening preparing food ! I remember the old 
days in my dreamings but when I awake — 
there is the sleeper and there is the bedding 
and it is more far off than Delhi. But God 
will accomplish the meetings and surely 
arrange the return. 

Mother, before going out to the attack 
the other day, I had a dream. I dreamed 
that a great snake appeared in our trenches 
in France and at the same time our Pir 
Murshid [our family priest] whose face I 
saw quite clearly, appeared with a stick 
and destroyed it. Well then, Mother, our 
lot went in to the attack and returned from 
it safely. Those who were fated to be the 

[83] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

victims of death were taken and those who 
were fated to be wounded were wounded; 
and all our party returned safely. At the 
same time, the Government secured a vic- 
tory and the Regiment obtained renown. 
It was our horse that went out over the 
trenches, Mother, and the Germans, being 
alarmed, fled. We were forbidden to pursue 
because of hidden guns. This was trouble 
to us. We owed them much blood on our 
brethren's account. Tell the Murshid my 
dream and ask him for a full interpretation. 
I have also seen our Murshid twice before 
in my dreams. Ask him why he comes to 
me thus. I am not conscious of any wrong- 
doing, and if it is a sign of favour to me, 
then the shape should speak. 

I am quite aware how God rewards the 
unwilling. He is all powerful. Look at the 
case of that man of our own family who was 
ordered to the front with a higher rank. 
He refused promotion in order to stay be- 

[8 4 ] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

hind, and in a month's time he died of the 
plague in his own village. If he had gone 
to the front his family would have received 
the war pension. An atheist never achieves 
honour, Mother. He is always unsettled 
and has no consolations. Do we Mussul- 
mans think that the Prophet will spend all 
his time in asking God to forgive our trans- 
gressions? Tell the Pir Murshid what I 
have written. 

Mother, put down your ear and listen to 
me in this matter, my Mother. There is 
one thing I wish to impress earnestly on you. 
You must know that among recruits for the 
Regiment there are too few of our kind of 
Mussulmans. They are sending recruits 
from the Punjab who were formerly la- 
bourers and common workmen. The con- 
sequence of this is, in the Regiment, that 
we Mussulmans are completely outnumbered 
by these low people, and the promotions 
go accordingly. Each of our troops, my 

[85] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

Mother, has been divided into two; that is 
to say there are four troops to a squadron. 
We Mussulmans should have at least two 
troops out of the four, but owing to the lack 
of recruits we have not sufficient men of 
our faith to form more than one. Now, 
Mother, as it was in our fathers' time, 
he who supplies the men gets the promo- 
tion. Therefore, if our friends at home, 
and especially our Pir Murshid, would exert 
themselves to supply fifteen or twenty 
recruits, I could approach my Colonel 
Sahib in regard to promotion. If my 
Colonel received my request favourably 
then you at home would only have the 
trouble to provide the men. But I do not 
think, Mother, there would be any trouble 
if our Pir Murshid exerted himself in the 
matter and if my father's brother also 
exerted himself. A family is a family even 
[if it be] scattered to the ends of the earth, 
Mother. My father's brother's name is 

[86] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

still remembered in the Regiment on ac- 
count of his long service and his great deeds 
of old. Tell him, my Mother, that the men 
talk of him daily as though he had only 
resigned yesterday. If he rides out among 
the villages with his medals he will certainly 
fetch in many of our class. If it were fifty 
it would mean much more influence for me 
with my Colonel. He is very greedy for 
our class of Mahommedans. 

Mother, our Pir Murshid too, is a very 
holy man. If he preached to them after 
harvest he would fetch in many and I 
should be promoted, and the pensions go 
with the promotion. In a short time by 
God's assistance, I might command a troop 
if sufficient recruits were attained by the 
exertions of my friends and well-wishers. 
The honour of one is the honour of all. 
Lay all this before the Murshid and my 
uncle. 

None of the Cavalry have yet done any- 

[87] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

thing to compare with our Regiment. 
This may be because of fate or that their 
nature is not equal to ours. There is great 
honour to be got out of a lance before long. 
The war has become loosened and cavalry 
patrols are being sent forward. We have 
driven Mama Lumra [a nickname for the 
enemy] several miles across country. He 
has planted his feet again but it is not the 
same Mama Lumra. His arrogance is 
gone. Our guns turn the earth upside down 
upon him. He has made himself houses 
underground which are in all respects fort- 
resses with beds, chairs and lights. Our 
guns break these in. There is little to see 
because Mama Lumra is buried under- 
neath. These days are altogether different 
from the days when all our Army was here 
and Mama Lumra's guns overwhelmed us 
by day and by night. Now Mama Lumra 
eats his own stick. Fighting goes on in the 
sky, on earth and under earth. Such a 

[88] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

fighting is rarely vouchsafed any one to 
behold. Yet if one reflects upon God it is 
no more than rain on a roof. Mother, 
once I was reported "missing, killed or be- 
lieved taken prisoner." I went with a patrol 
to a certain place beyond which we went 
forward to a place which had recently been 
taken by the English infantry. Suddenly 
the enemy's fire fell upon us and behind us 
like water. Seeing we could not go back, we 
lay down in the holes made by the shells. 
The enemy exerted himself to the utmost, but 
our guns having found him bombarded him 
and he ceased. In the evening we retired 
out of our shell-holes. We had to walk; 
it was fasting time and we suffered from 
thirst. So our hearts were relieved when 
we returned to the Regiment. We had all 
been reported to Divisional Headquarters 
as lost. This false report was then can- 
celled. The shell-holes in the ground are 
the size of our goat-pen and as deep as my 

[89] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

height with the arm raised. They are 
more in number than can be counted, and 
of all colours. It is like small-pox upon the 
ground. 

We have no small-pox or diseases here. 
Our doctors are strict, and refuse is burned 
by the sweepers. It is said there is no 
physician like fire. He leaves nothing to 
the flies. It is said that flies produce 
sicknesses, especially when they are allowed 
to sit on the nostrils and the corners of the 
eyes of the children or to fall into their 
milk-pots. The young children of this 
country of France are beautiful and do not 
suffer from sickness. Their women do not 
die in childbed. This is on account of 
physicians and midwives who abound in 
knowledge. It is a Government order, 
Mother, that none can establish as a mid- 
wife till she has shown her ability. These 
people are idolaters. When there is a death 
which is not caused by war, they instantly 

[90] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

ascribe it to some fault in eating or drinking 
or the conduct of life on the part of the dead. 
If one dies without manifest cause the 
physicians at once mutilate the body to 
ascertain what evil was hidden inside it. 
If anything is discovered there is a crim- 
inal trial. Thus the women-folk do not 
traffic in poisons and wives have no sus- 
picion one against the other. Truly, 
Mother, people are only defective on ac- 
count of ignorance. Learning and knowl- 
edge are the important things. 

Your letters come to me with every mail 
exactly as if we were at headquarters. 
This is accomplished solely by knowledge. 
There are hundreds of women behind our 
lines who make clean and repair the dirty 
clothes of the troops. Afterwards, they 
are baked in very hot ovens which utterly 
destroy the vermin and also, it is said, 
diseases. We have, too, been issued iron 
helmets to protect the head against falling 

[91] * 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

shots. It was asked of us all if any had an 
objection. The Sikhs reported that they 
had not found any permission in their Law 
to wear such things. They, therefore, go 
uncovered. It was reported by our priests 
for us Mahommedans that our Law neither 
forbids nor enjoins. It is a thing indifferent. 
They are heavier than the pagri [turban], 
but they turn falling iron. Doubtless, it 
is Allah's will that the lives of His Faith- 
ful should be prolonged by these hats. 
The sons of mothers who go to foreign 
parts are specially kept under His Eye. 

We know very well how the world is made. 
To earn a living and bear trouble is the 
duty of man. If I send you a report that 
I have won promotion in the Regiment, 
do not forget to distribute alms to the 
extent of fifteen rupees and to feed the 
poor. 

Mother, put down your ear and listen to 
me. There is no danger whatever in box- 

[92] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

pictures [snapshot-photographs]. Anyone 
submitted to them is in all respects as he 
was before. Nothing is taken out of his 
spirit. I, myself, Mother, have submitted 
myself to many box-pictures, both mounted 
and standing beside my horse. If at any 
time again the Zenana Doctor Sahiba de- 
sires to make a box-picture of him do not 
snatch the child away but send the picture 
to me. I cannot see him in my dreams 
because at his age he changes with each 
month. When I went away he was still 
on all fours. Now you tell me he stands 
up holding by the skirts. I wish to see a 
box-picture of this very greatly indeed. 
I can read box-pictures now as perfectly 
as the French. When I was new to this 
country I could not understand their mean- 
ing in the least. This is on account of 
knowledge which comes by foreign travel 
and experience. Mother, this world 
abounds in marvels beyond belief. We in 

[93] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

India are but stones compared to these 
people. They do not litigate among them- 
selves; they speak truth at first answer; 
their weddings are not [performed] till both 
sides are at least eighteen, and no man has 
authority here to beat his wife. 

I have resided in billets with an old man 
and his wife, who possess seven hens, an 
ass, and a small field of onions. They 
collect dung from our horse-lines upon 
their backs, a very little at a time but con- 
tinuously. They are without means of 
maintenance, yet they do not lay a finger 
upon any food except through invitation. 
They exhibit courtesy to each other in all 
things. 

They call me Sia [monsieur?] which is 
Mian [Mahommedan title of respect] and 
also man barah [mon brave ?] which signifies 
hero. I have spoken to them many times 
of you, my Mother, and they desire I send 
you their salutations. She calls me to ac- 

f94] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 
count strictly for my doings each day. 
At evening tide I am fetched inwith the hens. 
My clothes are then inspected and repaired 
when there is need. She turns me back 
and forth between her hands. If I ex- 
hibit impatience, she hits me upon the side 
of the head, and I say to my heart it is your 

hands. 

Now this is the French language, Mother. 

(i) Zuur mononfahn. The morning 
salutation. 

(2) Wasi lakajeh. Coffee is prepared. 

(3) Abil tow ah mononfahn. Rise and 
go to parade. 

(4) Dormeh beeahn mon fiz nublieh pah- 
leh Bondihu. This is their dismissal at 
night, invoking the blessing of their God. 
They use a Tasbih [rosary] in form like ours 
but of more beads. They recite prayers 
both sitting and walking. Having seen 
my Tasbih these old people become curious 
concerning the Faith. Certainly they are 

[9Sl 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

idolators. I have seen the images by the 
roadside which they worship. Yet they 
are certainly not Kafirs, who hide the truth 
and the mercy of Allah is illimitable. They 
two send you their salutations thus: — On- 
voyeh no zalutazioun zempresseh ar zmadam 
vol mair. It is their form of blessing. 

She has borne three sons. Two are al- 
ready dead in this war and of the third no 
information since the spring-time. There 
remains in the house the son of the eldest 
son. He is three years old. His name is 
Pir, which in their language also means 
a holy man. He runs barefoot in summer 
and wears only one garment. He eats all 
foods and specially dates. In this country 
it is not allowed to give children pepper or 
cardamoms. He has learned to speak our 
tongue and bears a wooden sword which was 
made for him and a turban of our sort. 
When he is weary he repairs to the centre of 
my bed which is forbidden to him by his 

[96] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

grandmother of whom he has no fear. He 
fears nothing. My Mother, he is almost the 
same sort as my own. He sends his salu- 
tations to him. He calls him " My brother 
who is in India." He also prays for him 
aloud before an idol which he is taken to 
worship. On account of his fatness he 
cannot yet kneel long, but falls over side- 
ways. The idol is of Bibbee Miriam [the 
Virgin Mary] whom they, in this country, 
believe to watch over children. He has also 
a small idol of his own above his bed which 
represents a certain saint called Pir. He 
rides upon the ass and says he will become 
a trooper. I take delight in his presence 
and his conversation. 

The children in this country are learned 
from their very birth. They go to the 
schools even when the shells fall near 
by. They know all the countries in the 
world, and to read and write in their 
language and to cast accounts. Even the 

[97] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

girls of eight years can cast accounts and 
those that are marriageable have complete 
knowledge of cookery, accounts, and gov- 
ernments, and washing of clothes, agri- 
culture and the manufacture of garments 
and all other offices: otherwise .they are 
reckoned infirm-minded. Each girl is given 
a dowry to which she adds with her own 
hands. No man molests any woman here 
on any occasion. They come and go at 
their pleasure upon their business. There 
is one thing I should like to see, Mother. 
I should like to see all the men of India 
with all their wives brought to France in 
order to see the country and profit by 
their experiences. Here are no quarrels or 
contentions, and there is no dishonesty. 
All day long men do their work and the 
women do theirs. Compared with these 
people the people of India do not work at 
all, but all day long are occupied with evil 
thoughts and our women all day long they do 

[98] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 

nothing but quarrel. Now I see this. The 
blame for this state of affairs, Mother, lies 
upon the men of India, for if the men were to 
educate the women they would give up 
quarrelling. 

When a man goes out into the world his 
understanding is enlarged and he becomes 
proficient in different kinds of work. All 
that is needed is to show courage. At the 
present time, one's bravery or one's cow- 
ardice is apparent. The opportunities for 
advancement come quickly. Such oppor- 
tunities will not occur again. 

As for any marriage proposed [for me?] 
when I return, those things can wait till I 
return. It is no gain to take into the 
house a child or a sickly one who, through 
no fault of her own, dies in bringing forth. 
If there be any talk between our house and 
any other family upon this subject they 
should understand that I desire knowledge 
more than dowry. There are schools where 

[99] 



THE EYES OF ASIA 

girls are educated by English ladies. I am 
not of the sort to make a wedding outside 
my clan or country, but if I fight to keep 
Mama Lumra out of the Punjab I will 
choose my wives out of the Punjab. I 
desire nothing that is contrary to the 
Faith, Mother, but what was ample yester- 
day does not cover even the palm of the 
hand to-day. This is owing to the spread 
of enlightenment among all men coming 
and going and observing matters which 
they had never before known to exist. 

In this country when one of them dies, 
the tomb is marked and named and kept 
like a garden so that the others may go to 
mourn over her. Nor do they believe a 
burial-ground to be inhabited by evil 
spirits or ghouls. When I was upon a cer- 
tain duty last month, I lay three nights in 
a grave-yard. None troubled me, even 
though the dead had been removed from 
their graves by the violence of shells 

[ ioo ] 



A TROOPER OF HORSE 
bursting. One was a woman of this coun- 
try, newly dead, whom we reburied for the 
sake of the Pity of Allah, and made the 
prayer. Tell the Pir Murshid this, and 
that I performed Tayamummum [the short- 
er purification with sand or dust] afterwards. 
There was no time for the full purifica- 
tion. 

Oh, my Mother, my Mother, I am your 
son, your son; and as I have said at the 
beginning I will return to your arms from 
out of this country, when God shall permit! 



THE END 



[IOI] 







THE COUNTRY LIFE PREii 
GARDEN CITY, N. Y. 



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